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Dock landing ship decommissioned after 40 years in service
On Oct 3, 2026, a decommissioning ceremony was held at Naval Base San Diego for the USS 'Germantown', after it had spent 40 years in active service, during which guest speaker Brigadier General Samuel L. Meyer, the director of expeditionary warfare, paid tribute to the legacy of the vessel and generations of sailors, Marines, and families whose service gave life to the ship’s history. The Whidbey Island-class vessel had a crew of 22 officers and 391 sailors, with additional space for up to 102 personnel if needed for specialised missions. Constructed in Seattle by Lockheed Shipbuilding, the ship was christened after the Battle of Germantown, which occurred on Oct 4, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. When it first entered service, the vessel sailed regularly from San Diego before it was deployed to Japan’s Sasebo, where, it assisted amphibious operations and the Marines. It was the first dock landing vessel to perform these operations using Landing Craft Air Cushion vehicles. It was part of several crucial missions such as Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield, along with Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 'Germantown' also participated in humanitarian aid missions and disaster relief operations after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 in the Philippines and the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. It played an indispensable role in Operation Tomodachi, which was executed after Japan was hit with a tsunami in 2011 following an earthquake. The 'Germantown' also participated in the biggest naval exercise in the world, the Rim of the Pacific, and others such as Talisman Sabre, Cobra Gold, etc to forge stronger defense ties with U.S. allies and defense partners. The ship was awarded two Navy Unit Commendations, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, and 6 Battle E Awards.
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